CHAPTER 5

Functions and Modules

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 Functions
Python enables its programmers to break up a program into segments commonly known
as functions, each of which can be written more or less independently of the others.
Every function in the program is supposed to perform a well-defined task.

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 Need for Functions
Each function to be written and tested separately.
• Understanding, coding and testing multiple separate functions is far easier.
Without the use of any function, then there will be countless lines in the code and
maintaining it will be a big mess.
• Programmers use functions without worrying about their code details. This speeds up
program development, by allowing the programmer to concentrate only on the code that
he has to write.
Different programmers working on that project can divide the workload by writing
different functions.
• Like Python libraries, programmers can also make their functions and use them from
different point in the main program or any other program that needs its functionalities. 3

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 Function Declaration and Definition
• A function, f that uses another function g, is known as the calling function and g is
known as the called function.
• The inputs that the function takes are known as arguments/parameters.
• When a called function returns some result back to the calling function, it is said to
return that result.
• The calling function may or may not pass parameters to the called function. If the called
function accepts arguments, the calling function will pass parameters, else not.
• Function declaration is a declaration statement that identifies a function with its name,
a list of arguments that it accepts and the type of data it returns.
• Function definition consists of a function header that identifies the function, followed by
the body of the function containing the executable code for that function. 4

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 Function Definition
Function blocks starts with the keyword def.
• The keyword is followed by the function name and parentheses (( )).
• After the parentheses a colon (:) is placed.
• Parameters or arguments that the function accept are placed within parentheses.
• The first statement of a function can be an optional statement - the docstring describe
what the function does.
• The code block within the function is properly indented to form the block code.
• A function may have a return[expression] statement. That is, the return statement is
optional. Example:

• You can assign the function name to a variable. Doing this will allow you to call same
function using the name of that variable. 5

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 Function Call
The function call statement invokes the function. When a function is invoked the program
control jumps to the called function to execute the statements that are a part of that
function. Once the called function is executed, the program control passes back to the
calling function.
Function Parameters
A function can take parameters which are nothing but some values that are passed to it
so that the function can manipulate them to produce the desired result. These
parameters are normal variables with a small difference that the values of these variables
are defined (initialized) when we call the function and are then passed to the function.
Function name and the number and type of arguments in the function call must be same
as that given in the function definition.
6
Example:
If the data type of the argument passed does not matches with©that expected in function
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then an error is generated.
Examples

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 Local and Global Variables

A variable which is defined within a function is local to that function. A local variable can
be accessed from the point of its definition until the end of the function in which it is
defined. It exists as long as the function is executing. Function parameters behave like
local variables in the function. Moreover, whenever we use the assignment operator (=)
inside a function, a new local variable is created.

Global variables are those variables which are defined in the main body of the program
file. They are visible throughout the program file. As a good programming habit, you
must try to avoid the use of global variables because they may get altered by mistake
and then result in erroneous output.
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 Local and Global Variables
Example
:

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 Using the Global Statement
To define a variable defined inside a function as global, you must use the global
statement. This declares the local or the inner variable of the function to have module
scope.
Exampl
e:

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 Resolution of names
Scope defines the visibility of a name within a block. If a local variable is defined in a
block, its scope is that particular block. If it is defined in a function, then its scope is all
blocks within that function.
When a variable name is used in a code block, it is resolved using the nearest enclosing
scope. If no variable of that name is found, then a NameError is raised. In the code given
below, str is a global string because it has been defined before calling the function.
Exampl
e:

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 The Return Statement
The syntax of return statement is,
return [expression]
The expression is written in brackets because it is optional. If the expression is present,
it is evaluated and the resultant value is returned to the calling function. However, if no
expression is specified then the function will return None.
Example
:
The return statement is used for two things.
• Return a value to the caller
• To end and exit a function and go back to its caller

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 Required Arguments

In the required arguments, the arguments are passed to a function in correct positional
order. Also, the number of arguments in the function call should exactly match with the
number of arguments specified in the function definition

Example
s:

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 Keyword Arguments

When we call a function with some values, the values are assigned to the arguments
based on their position. Python also allow functions to be called using keyword
arguments in which the order (or position) of the arguments can be changed. The values
are not assigned to arguments according to their position but based on their name (or
keyword).
Keyword arguments are beneficial in two cases.
• First, if you skip arguments.
Exampl
• Second, if in the function call you change the order of parameters.
e:

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 Variable-length Arguments
In some situations, it is not known in advance how many arguments will be passed to a
function. In such cases, Python allows programmers to make function calls with arbitrary
(or any) number of arguments.
When we use arbitrary arguments or variable length arguments, then the function
definition use an asterisk (*) before the parameter name. The syntax for a function using
variable arguments can be given as,

Exampl
e:

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 Default Arguments
Python allows users to specify function arguments that can have default values. This means
that a function can be called with fewer arguments than it is defined to have. That is, if the
function accepts three parameters, but function call provides only two arguments, then the
third parameter will be assigned the default (already specified) value.
The default value to an argument is provided by using the assignment operator (=). Users can
specify a
Example:
default value for one or more arguments.

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 Lambda Functions Or Anonymous Functions
Lambda or anonymous functions are so called because they are not declared as other
functions using the def keyword. Rather, they are created using the lambda keyword.
Lambda functions are throw-away functions, i.e. they are just needed where they have
been created and can be used anywhere a function is required. The lambda feature was
added to Python due to the demand from LISP programmers.
Lambda functions contain only a single line. Its syntax can be given as,
Example:

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 Documentation Strings
Docstrings (documentation strings) serve the same purpose as that of comments, as they
are designed to explain code. However, they are more specific and have a proper syntax.

Example:

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 Recursive Functions
A recursive function is defined as a function that calls itself to solve a smaller version of
its task until a final call is made which does not require a call to itself. Every recursive
solution has two major cases, which are as follows:
• base case, in which the problem is simple enough to be solved directly without making
any further calls to the same function.
• recursive case, in which first the problem at hand is divided into simpler sub parts.
Recursion utilized divide and conquer technique of problem solving.
Example:

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 The from…import Statement
A module may contain definition for many variables and functions. When you import a
module, you can use any variable or function defined in that module. But if you want to
use only selected variables or functions, then you can use the from...import statement.
For example, in the aforementioned program you are using only the path variable in the
sys module, so you could have better written from sys import path.
Example:

To import more than one item from a module, use a comma separated list. For example,
to import the value of pi and sqrt() from the math module you can write,
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 Making your own Modules
Every Python program is a module, that is, every file that you save as .py extension is a
module.
Example
s:

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 The dir() function
dir() is a built-in function that lists the identifiers defined in a module. These identifiers
may include functions, classes and variables. If no name is specified, the dir() will return
the list of names defined in the current module.

Example:

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 Modules and Namespaces
A namespace is a container that provides a named context for identifiers. Two identifiers
with the same name in the same scope will lead to a name clash. In simple terms, Python
does not allow programmers to have two different identifiers with the same name.
However, in some situations we need to have same name identifiers. To cater to such
situations, namespaces is the keyword. Namespaces enable programs to avoid potential
name clashes by associating each identifier with the namespace from which it originates.
Example
:

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 Local, Global, and Built-in Namespaces
During a program’s execution, there are three main namespaces that are referenced- the
built-in namespace, the global namespace, and the local namespace. The built-in
namespace, as the name suggests contains names of all the built-in functions, constants,
etc that are already defined in Python. The global namespace contains identifiers of the
currently executing module and the local namespace has identifiers defined in the
currently executing function (if any).
When the Python interpreter sees an identifier, it first searches the local namespace,
then the global namespace, and finally the built-in namespace. Therefore, if two
identifiers with same name are defined in more than one of these namespaces, it
becomes masked.

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 Local, Global, and Built-in Namespaces
Example:

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 Module Private Variables
In Python, all identifiers defined in a module are public by default. This means that all
identifiers are accessible by any other module that imports it. But, if you want some
variables or functions in a module to be privately used within the module, but not to be
accessed from outside it, then you need to declare those identifiers as private.
In Python identifiers whose name starts with two underscores (__) are known as private
identifiers. These identifiers can be used only within the module. In no way, they can be
accessed from outside the module. Therefore, when the module is imported using the
import * form modulename, all the identifiers of a module’s namespace is imported
except the private ones (ones beginning with double underscores). Thus, private
identifiers become inaccessible from within the importing module.
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 Packages in Python
A package is a hierarchical file directory structure that has modules and other packages
within it. Like modules, you can very easily create packages in Python.
Every package in Python is a directory which must have a special file called __init__.py.
This file may not even have a single line of code. It is simply added to indicate that this
directory is not an ordinary directory and contains a Python package. In your programs,
you can import a package in the same way as you import any module.
For example, to create a package called MyPackage, create a directory called MyPackage
having the module MyModule and the __init__.py file. Now, to use MyModule in a program,
you must first import it. This can be done in two ways.
import MyPackage.MyModule
or 27

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 Globals(), Locals(), And Reload()

The globals() and locals() functions are used to return the names in the global and local
namespaces (In Python, each function, module, class, package, etc owns a “namespace”
in which variable names are identified and resolved). The result of these functions is of
course, dependent on the location from where they are called. For example,
If locals() is called from within a function, names that can be accessed locally from that
function will be returned.
If globals() is called from within a function, all the names that can be accessed globally
from that function is returned.
Reload()- When a module is imported into a program, the code in the module is executed
only once. If you want to re-execute the top-level code in a module, you must use the
reload() function. This function again imports a module that was previously imported. 28
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